Improvement in perforating canceling-stam ps



W. S. GREENE. Performing Canceling-Stamp.

Patentd Aug. 19,1879.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OEE-ICE` WILL-IAM S. GREENE, OF OPELIKA, ALABAMA.

IMPROVEMENT IN -PERFRATING CANCELlNG-STAM PS.

Speciiication forming part of Letters Patent No. 2l 8,622, dated August 19, 1879; application filed July 11, 1879.

To all 'whom it may concern: ,y

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM S. GREENE, of Opelika, in the county of Lee and State of Alabama, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Marking and Oancelin g Stamps; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in Which- Figure 1 is a vertical central longitudinal section of my improved marking and canceling stamp. Fig. 2 is a bottom orface view of the same. Fig. '3 is an enlarged perspective view of the cutter of the stamp. Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the india-rubber ink-marker of the stamp detached. Fig. 5 is an illustration of the postage-stamp after it has been marked with ink and canceled by in cisions or cuts therein.

My invention relates to an improvement in that class of hand-stamps which mark postage, revenue, and other stamps with ink, and at the same time cancel them by incisions or cuts, and thus, while the ink-mark serves for showing that the stamps on letters passed from one post-office to another have been canceled, the cuts or incisions serve for elfectually canceling the stamps and preventing their being reused without liability of being detected as a fraud upon the Government, even though they have been skillfully washed.

The improvement which I have made consists in the combination of an outer circular cutter, a central support, transverse blades united to the outer cutter and centralsupport, and an india-rubber ink receiver and marker divided along a portion of its depth into independent ink receivers and markers, the said parts being applied in an ordinary holder of hand stamps in a manner which admits of their removal at will of the user of the stamp by simply unscrewin g the handle of the stamp.

By my improvement postage-stamps can be cut all round within their margins, and also radially, and at the same time each sectionv of the india-rubber ink-receiver is allowed perfect freedom independently of its fellow inkreceiver to yield as it comes in contact with the stamp.

There is great advantage in having -a divided ink receiver and marker, for the reason that it is much easier to compress the small sections of the ink-marker shownby me than it is to compress a circular piece of rubber or cork which is undivided along a portion of its depth; and this being so, the stamp will be more thoroughly marked with ink at all points between the incisions or cuts than it is possible to do with a solid-faced rubber inker or marke-r.

A is the ordinary holder, and B the handle, of a marking and canceling stamp. G is the ordinary ink-marker, with recess for type for marking the date and post-office address upon letters. D is a circular tubewith iiange a and external screw-thread, b, and internal screwthread, c, as shown. This tube is provided with a smaller central tube, d, and transverse blades e, which latter are iush with the bottom of the tube D, and of a depth about onethird that of the tube.

The edges of the blades e, and also of the tube D, are sharp and capable of making cuts or incisions into stamps on letters. The edge of the tube is divided into short segmental cutters with spaces between the segments, and the edges of the blades may be continuous or divided into short sections with spaces between the sections, as shown. The blades e unite the central tube, d, with the outer tube, D; and in order to have the stamp cut only to a certaindepth into the postage-stamps the central tube, d, is made a little shorter than the depth of the blades, so that it does not reach down flush with their lower edges. The lower end of the tube is dull and does not cut. By this means the tube acts as a support to the transverse cutters, and also as a gage to the circular cutting-edge and the blades.

It may be found best in practice to make the part d solid, or it might be found desirable to have it extend down to the lower edge of the blades in tube form and have its edge sharp, so as to cut, in which case the gage would be placed around the outside ofthe tube D in form of a flange or shoulder below the flange c. The tube D is open at both ends, and into its upper end a circular india-rubber ink receiver and marker, E, is inserted, and by means of' kerfsff and a circular recess,f, in the lower end of this marker E the blades e and support d are allowed to embed themselves into the marker in the manner shown in the drawings, and thus four quarter-sections of the rubber-marker are, along a portion of' the depth of the marker, inclosed in chambers formed by the tube l) and blades c, while the upper portion of the marker, which is undivided, or into which the kerfs do not extend, is inclosed in a cylindrical chamber of the tube l), above the blades, and abut-s against the handle.

The tube I), with the rubber marker E, is Screwed into the holder A, and then the handle is screwed into the tube 1) upon the rubber marker E, as shown. A shoulder, a', of' the handle and the iiange a of the tube I), prevent upward and downward movements of the respective parts named while using the 'stamp for marking and canceling' purposes.

In using the stamp described the india rubber ink-markers are furnished with ink of the cheapest or ordinary kind, as it is not intended l to depend upon the ink-marks for canceling the stamp.

The stamp, after being furnished with ink, is forced down upon the postagestamp, and this act causes the cutters to penetrate the stamp in a circular and radial manner, while the sections of the india-rubber ink-marker mark the four spaces included between the circular tube 1) and the blades e with ink. The ink-marks indicate to postmasters and routeagents that the stamp has been canceled by cutting into it, and thus it is unnecessary for them to examine the letters as to that fact during their transit.

What I claim as my invention is- The combination of the outer circular cuttertube, D, central support, d, transverse blades e e, and an elastic ink receiver and marker, E, having kerfs fand recess j", substantially as and for the purpose described.

WILLIAM S. GREENE.

Witnesses:

PORTER KING, FRENCH STRANGE. 

